Day 4 2012 Texans training camp: Hello Mr. Duane Brown

On Twitter, people have been requesting that I take pictures of guys to use in their Twitter avatars. Today, the Texans left tackle, Duane Brown was kind enough to do a picture. I think he’s doing more than just a gun show.

What is remarkable watching Brown in camp is how often you see him blowing up guys in the second level, way down the field. Practice how you play. (Notice Connor Barwin chasing down guys way down field too–tremendous closing speed even against offensive players who are supposed to be faster than he is. In practice.)

Sometimes I hear comments like, “Why would any fans want to go to a football practice?”

The answer is that for most folks, this is by far the closest you will see these guys as a group. Including coaches. Not just an edited clip on TV of the sidelines. Or helmeted views from far away. You can stand right next to where they are doing drills. You can see when they get praised, when they get dog-cussed.

You see what matter to the coaches, to the players.

The best part of NFL Network is when they show the guys without the helmets so you can see there personalities some. It’s easier to get a sense of guys more with social media and more news sources too.

I also think that being at practice gives you a better appreciation of the work that they do. Anyone who has done sports outside in Texas knows the challenge of the heat here. And the Texans practice in particular is done at a quick pace. There’s very little stopping time.

To me, it is always more fun to watch a sport if you know some about the players and their story.

The Preseason. It Matters.

Last year, the teams needed preseason games because there was very little off-season due to the lockout. This year, the Texans in particular need the preseason to sort out position battles. Last year, the entire starting offense was coming back with the exception of fullback. Easy.

The camp battles this year may not end up being finalized until coaches get to see these guys more in preseason games. Kubiak today:

(on T Derek Newton and G Brandon Brooks) “I think there have been flashes. I think that Gump (RG Antoine Caldwell) has done some good things. (RT Rashad) Butler has done some good things. The young guard (Brooks) has the ability, he has big-time ability, but he has to catch up. You see flashes of what you’re looking for. I think Newton is still a young player, but he’s a physical player. It’ll be interesting. It’ll sort itself out in the games, probably not in practice.”

(on how much the competition on the right side of the offensive line picks up with them in pads) “It’s picking up. It’s very competitive. They’re going back and forth right now and what we do, one day one of them works with the ones. The next day the other one works with the ones. They’re split right down the middle. We’ll see who gets it done.”

Photo by Eddy Matchette, edmatchettephotography.com

Guess your opinion on preseason games has a lot to do with whether you pay for tickets and any guys on your favorite team get hurt in a preseason game.

Personally, I love preseason games. You could put together a very good roster based on guys who made teams based on their preseason performances. For backup quarterbacks in particular, it may be the only time you get a sense of what they can do. It’s like watching the future of your team, for better or worse.

And for the Texans, the pressure of an audience will be particularly important for figuring out the kicker competition. For second day in a row, the kickers made field goals in front of the team, media, and some fans that were there for the Toro’s Kids Club day. I didn’t see any Shayne Graham misses but I heard Nick Scurfield on the radio say that he thought he saw one but that he was far away. (Didn’t see it, but given my angle, I might have missed it). Saw a Randy Bullock miss of a fairly short field goal–doinked off one of the crossbars. So far, they haven’t worked on long field goals in front of an audience.

The key kicks will be during the preseason games. Those kicks will count for more in the evaluations.

On DeVier Posey.

I sort of wish I wasn’t identifying each day of camp in these blog posts. I think sometimes that fans pay too much attention to the ups and downs of particular days. DeVier Posey got a little bit of a Gary Kubiak chew in OTA’s for his conditioning and some fans over-reactively translated that to bust. Which was ridiculous given that a lot of rookies who are new to Texas struggle some with the heat early in the off-season. Happens every year.

Kubiak clarified as it related to Posey that he’s direct with players because he knows he may be counting on them and needs them to get better, quicker.

Today, Posey had one of those flashy play days. Ones where the fans have to notice his catches. Caught a nice ball in stride downfield from a bomb thrown by Schaub. Fake touchdown Texans. /Vandermeer voice. Also heard he looked good in 1 on 1s.

This year, Posey is going to be the player doing the rookie diary for the Houston Texans website. Here’s the first Posey rookie diary.

I know with the aging of the wide receiver starters, and the injuries and lack of depth last year, that some fans are wishing for more *name* players at the position. But the reality of the situation is that anyone who is great would cost too much, and some of the *name* guys who are available at a reasonable price are available for a reason. And a *name* older guy who wants playing time means you are postponing the development of a younger guy.

Photo by Eddy Matchette, edmatchettephotography.com

If you see Posey at camp, you can’t help but be intrigued by his size/speed combo. And it looks like he “gets it.” He’s one of the guys that is staying after regular practice to work more with the quarterbacks/jug machine.

If you see Lestar Jean at camp, you like seeing him try to out physical guys. You can see him talking with Andre Johnson a lot.

With Keshawn Martin, it is fun watching him run routes. He has a great suddenness to his running. You can appreciate his special teams versatility.

With the entire wide receiver group, you can see flashes of good things.

But young wide receivers are like musicians. There are many very talented musicians that don’t become famous, get a break, an opportunity, some luck, some magic. The Texans offense is one that can make wide receivers look very good. The scheme is designed to take advantage of defensive tendencies, and to go to the open guy. It will be all a matter of the wide receivers making good with the few balls that come their way in this target rich offense. Need to make their own luck through hard work, and get luck by staying healthy.

And if you don’t believe that, read the story of Bronco great Rod Smith. Is there a Rod Smith on this team? That’s a bit much to put on anyone, but not all wide receivers started out as *name* guys.

Quote of the Day.

(Bradie James on his perspective of ILB Brian Cushing now compared to when he did not play with Cushing) “I didn’t know him. Now it’s great to be with one of the best inside linebackers in the NFL. I try to help him on fundamentals and doing all the right things. I think he’ll be as or more productive this year than he was last year.”